Schilling test

Schilling test

[shil´ing]

a test for gastrointestinal absorption of vitamin B12; a measured amount of radioactive vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin Co 57) is given orally, followed by a parenteral flushing dose of the nonradioactive vitamin, and the percentage of radioactivity is determined in the urine excreted over a 24-hour period. A low urinary excretion that becomes normal after the test is repeated with intrinsic factor is diagnostic of primary pernicious anemia.

Schil·ling test

(shil'ing),

a procedure for determining the amount of vitamin B12 excreted in the urine using cyanocobalamin tagged with a radioisotope of cobalt.

Schilling test

[shil′ing]

Etymology: Robert F. Schilling, American hematologist, b. 1919

a diagnostic test for pernicious anemia in which vitamin B12 tagged with radioactive cobalt is administered orally, and GI absorption is measured by determining the radioactivity of urine samples collected over a 24-hour period. Normal findings show excretion of 8% to 40% of radioactive vitamin B12 within 24 hours. In people with pernicious anemia, the ability to absorb vitamin B12 from the GI tract is reduced so that excretion of radioactive material in the urine is reduced. This test is rarely used today.

Schilling test

Vitamin B12 absorption test A test that evaluates ability to absorb vitamin B12, which is ↓ without intrinsic factor, a glycoprotein produced by the gastric parietal cells. See Vitamin B12 deficiency.

Schil·ling test

(shil'ing test)

A procedure for determining the amount of vitamin B12 excreted in the urine, using cyanocobalamin tagged with a radioisotope of cobalt.

Schilling test

A test to demonstrate the failure of absorption of vitamin B12 due to a lack of stomach INTRINSIC FACTOR. The test is used in the investigation of PERNICIOUS ANAEMIA. Cobalt 57 radiolabelled B12 is given by mouth and the amount excreted in the urine over the following 24 hours is an indication of the degree of absorption. (Victor Theodore Schilling, 1883–1960, German haematologist)

Schilling,

Robert F., U.S. hematologist, 1919–.

Schilling test - a procedure for determining the amount of B12 excreted in the urine. Synonym(s): vitamin B12 absorption test

For comparison with group 2, which featured unexplained low cobalamin concentrations, EDTA-anticoagulated plasma samples were tested in 38 patients with low cobalamin concentrations, in whom clinically and metabolically expressed cobalamin deficiency was documented and whose malabsorptive causes were identified by appropriate abnormalities of the Schilling test and/or history of gastric surgery (29 had pernicious anemia, 5 had ileal disease, and 4 had partial gastrectomy).

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